Ball-and-socket joints for various applications have been known. While the principal load is directed in the case of axial ball-and-socket joints mainly in the axial direction relative to the nondeflected ball pivot, a radial ball-and-socket joint is designed for a predominantly radial load. Thus, such joints differ in terms of their function and partly also in terms of their design.
For example, an axial ball-and-socket joint, which comprises a metallic housing that is open on one side, in which a ball pivot is mounted in a bearing shell, which is held in the housing by material deformation of the open housing edge, has been known from DE 295 09 566. The bearing shell consists of plastic and is supported on the side of the housing, with which a fastening pin is made in one piece on the outside, with an oblique surface against a complementary oblique surface on the housing, and against a buffer inserted between the bearing shell and a radial support surface formed on the housing. This buffer may consist of a rubber ring possessing a selected elastic material stiffness. As a result, the compensation of the clearance between the bearing shell and the joint housing is said to be achieved. In addition, a support joint, in which the joint ball of the ball pivot is mounted in a bearing shell, has been known from DE 44 01 639 A1. To make it possible to apply a progressive pretension to the joint ball, a pressure shell is inserted between the joint ball and the cover closing the joint, and both the cover and the pressure shell have, on at least one side, partially the surface shape of a ball each with different radii.